Najib (centre) holds hands with other leaders during a protest against
the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, at a stadium in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, on Dec 4, 2016. Source: AP
I AM a big advocate of open borders because I believe migration is – or should be – a universal human right.
Point is, the world doesn’t belong to any one person or persons. And
centuries ago, that’s what people did – they navigated the world to find
the best living conditions.
After all, if we’re constantly arguing against discrimination of skin
colour, ethnicity, religious belief or culture, then why should it be
okay to judge or discriminate a person based on his or her country of
origin?
Last week, over a thousand Rohingya refugees in Malaysia converged at
the Burmese (Myanmar) embassy in the Kuala Lumpur capital to protest the
atrocities allegedly committed by their government against their
people.
The Rohingya crisis in Southeast Asia has been ongoing for decades and
has led to hundreds of thousands fleeing Burma to seek safe havens
across the border in neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
So when they heard of the protest by the Malaysian Consultative Council
of Islamic Organisations (Mapim) and Pas Humanitarian Affair &
Relief Centre (PasRelief), the Rohingya in Malaysia arrived in droves to
participate.
As their numbers grew, however, police arrived to stop the protest. Around 155 were eventually arrested.
And this irks me because it was just last year when the Malaysian government showed their support for the Rohingya.
If you remember, last December, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak
and a few of his Cabinet members protested loudly against the Burmese
government’s handling of the Rohingya crisis.
They even organised a rally at a football stadium where each leader took
turns making rousing speeches on human rights and how Malaysia planned
to ramp up pressure on the Burmese government. It was quite a big show,
with the stadium packed to the rafters with supporters.
Thousands attended the pro-Rohingya protest organised by the Malaysian government last year. Source: AP
Why a sitting prime minister chose to organise a protest to express
his displeasure at a global issue is beyond my understanding. After all,
he has the diplomatic channels to actually do something about it. But
that is a separate discussion for another day.
My question today is: what has happened since then?
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he would look into taking diplomatic action against Burma after
its government blocked UN investigators from entering Rakhine State to
investigate the alleged persecution of the Rohingya.
Considering these developments, why is the Malaysian government now
cracking down on a protest by the very people they claim to support?
Have they changed their minds? Are they going back on their own pledges
of support?
And if the Malaysian government feels so strongly for the Rohingya, why
isn’t Malaysia a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention? Not being a
signatory means Malaysia doesn’t recognise refugees. They are all seen
as illegal immigrants who will be detained and deported.
As much as governments want to say an influx of people into controlled
borders will cause harm such as the robbing of jobs from locals,
negative social issues and contamination of culture, evidence has proven
otherwise.
Economists have shown when
migrant workers come in, they help the economy of the host country in
the form of spending and taxes. Of course, they help their own home
country, too, because they send money back.
The belief migrant workers take jobs away from locals isn’t true, too.
What they do is create healthy competition, which can only help to
increase the skill sets of our own countrymen. In fact, migrant workers
and locals can even complement each other.
So we should stop the xenophobia and be more human. Everyone has a right
to live in safe conditions, be able to support their family and feel
free from fear and persecution.
For the Rohingya, perhaps they see Malaysia as a place where they can
turn that dream into reality. Let’s not take that away from them.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not reflect the views of Asian Correspondent
